SEM-Ed News
June 2006 - A monthly newsletter for the
Science, Engineering and Math (SEM-Ed) Community at Cal State L.A.

Environmental Biology Fellowship Available NOW!

Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) at Cal State L.A.
Deadline to apply is June 15, or until positions are filled.

This is an exciting training opportunity for undergraduate students, providing a pathway to careers that are financially secure, intellectually stimulating, and socially constructive.

Multidisciplinary Research Interests
Marine biology and ecology
Photosynthesis and respiration of terrestrial ecosystems
Molecular genetics in evolution, ecology, and conservation
Biogeochemical processes
Hydrology of semi-arid lands

Financial Support
Research assistantships at $12,000/year
Funds for travel and research supplies
GRE preparation course

Superb Educational Experience Offering
Academic and career advising
Specialized environmental courses and field opportunities in Southern California, Nevada, Alaska and other locations in the southwestern United States, Canada, Mexico and U.S. Virgin Islands
Graduate school preparation workshops

Program Qualifications
Accepted to CSULA with a minimum 3.0 GPA
Must demonstrate interest and aptitude in environmental science research

Entry Level Training in Scientific Methods
For more information, please contact the CEA-CREST Office at (323) 343-5799 or visit their website
athttp://cea-crest.calstatela.edu.

Mathematical simulation modeling
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Remote sensing
DNA sequencing and other molecular techniques
Spatial statistics analyses
Chemical analysis of pollutants
Isotopic analyses for field studies

Geoscience and Geography Career Day

On Wednesday, May 24, representatives from federal and state government agencies, cities, JPL, mapmakers, and other private companies in the Los Angeles area came to meet students who might be interested in or curious about the fields of urban planning, geography, and geosciences. Training programs in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis offered by the Department of Geography and Urban Analysis were also made available. If you missed it, Dr. Steve LaDochy in Geography will be happy to provide additional information. He can be reached by contacting the Geography and Urban Analysis Department at (323) 343-2220.

Cal State L.A. Says Good-bye to Incredible Pair

Theresa and Kent Johnson will be moving on to their next endeavors, both as a couple and in their individual projects. Some of you might know that Kent was the Administrative Support Coordinator for the Criminal Justice Department for the last four years, until he left to focus on his master's degree in physical anthropology and to apply to doctoral programs around the country. His faculty mentor, Dr. Elizabeth Miller (Anthropology), highly supported Kent in his pursuit of doctoral institutions and reported, "Kent won the graduate student scholarship from the Alumni Association, is on two professional association committees, received a $30,000 per year stipend to attend one of the top five Ph.D.-granting institutions, and more."

He was awarded a CSU Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholarship for the 2005-06 year and was accepted to Arizona State University (Tempe), among several top notch universities who were vying for him. While Kent will be participating in a research internship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. this summer, his wife Theresa will be starting her new Lab Maintenance Technician position at Phoenix Community College.

Theresa was highlighted in our March SEM newsletter for her USDA HSI Science Fellowship, which she will continue to pursue while Kent is at the Smithsonian. She was also responsible for starting the Horticultural Club, getting the campus recycling program going by collecting used cell phones, collecting coffee grounds and fruit peels from Juice It Up to help fertilize the Biological Sciences Department plants for the botany courses, and much, much more.

Cal State LA has been very lucky to have had these two at our campus for the last five years, as they have both made incredible contributions. Kent spearheaded the first-ever Los Angeles area Forensic Anthropology Conference, sponsored by the Society for Biological Anthropology and held on October 30, 2004 here at Cal State L.A. Kent helped to organize The Society for Biological Anthropology at Cal State L.A. which was a primarily graduate student organization. Its focus is to educate, inform, and promote interest and research within the fields of biological and forensic anthropology. We will all miss Kent and Theresa. Their genuine kindness and caring for the University community was evident in their smiles and spirit. We wish them success and happiness in their future endeavors.

Lei Zhao, Electrical Engineering Student Does More than Engineering

Engineering is the "E" in SEM-Science, Engineering and Math-so this month we focus our attention on electrical engineering student Lei Zhao. Lei was one of the CSULA Student Research Symposium participants chosen to represent Cal State L.A. at the CSU Statewide Research Competition held on May 5-6 at CSU Channel Islands with his paper entitled "Automated Object Detection for Astronomical Images."

Lei was in a gifted-student program at Marguerita Middle School in Alhambra when his parents learned about the Cal State L.A. Early Entrance program. Lei's parents wanted their only child to receive a more challenged and fulfilling education, and had brought Lei from China to California when he was 9 years old in hopes of a better life.

Now, not only has Lei finished his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and minor in speech at the tender age of 18, he has been accepted to doctoral programs at a number of universities, including UCSD, USC, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Purdue, and Brown. He has chosen to attend the electrical engineering doctoral degree program at Georgia Tech because he "got a good feeling" for the campus and wanted to go out of state, as well as knew of Georgia Tech's excellent engineering program.

He has contributed to academic publications with his engineering professors, is a member of professional societies, was named Outstanding Student of 2006 in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was listed in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges for 2005, made the Chancellor's List in 2005-06, made the National Dean's List consecutively from 2002-05, and volunteered for various special student functions. He also enjoys the challenge of oral communication, and was on the CSULA forensics team. He takes an interest in national politics, environmental issues, social injustice, and the global economy. Quite profound for a teenager these days. He would like to travel to Canada and China, and he enjoys playing classical piano, running, reading, and foosball.

Lei would like to acknowledge all the CSULA faculty who have helped him on his journey so far: faculty mentors Dr. Charles Liu and Dr. Jane Dong (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Sheila Price (Philosophy), Dr. Michael Siler (Political Science) Dr. Nancy Warter-Perez (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Fred Daneshgaran (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Lili Tabrizi (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Chunsheng Bai (Communication Studies), Dr. Stephanie Hood (Communication Studies), Dr. Susan Terebey (Physics and Astronomy), Dr Shirley Stretch-Stephenson (Marketing), and of course, Mr. Rich Maddox, Director of the Early Entrance Program.

We all want to wish Lei continued great success.

Highlight: Richard Maddox, Director, Early Entrance Program

Many faculty and staff have known at least one student in their class or office who seems a little on the young side. Actually, these students are high school age. How does this occur? Simple: the Early Entrance Program. One of the most dedicated members of the campus community is none other than Rich Maddox, director of the Early Entrance Program (EEP), and his students are affectionately referred to as "EEPsters."

Not to be confused with the ACE/PACE (Accelerated College Enrollment/Pre-Accelerated College Enrollment) program, which serves students who will eventually finish high school, EEP students bypass the high school diploma and/or GED completely and are proud of being "high school dropouts." EEP students must have a GPA of 3.0, and are admitted into cohorts of 30 students per year to Cal State L.A. through a rigorous application process, which includes the Washington Pre-College Test and university entrance exams for specific disciplines. There are approximately 150 students in the EEP program who are concurrently enrolled in the University G.E. Honors program, taking G.E. Honors courses along with traditional college students. They may be enrolled in the program as early as age 11, but no later than age 16, and are required to complete their bachelor's degrees at Cal State L.A.

In addition to Rich's mentorship, students receive close direction from an EEP counselor, who helps guide the students. There is also a strong peer-mentoring structure in place to provide additional support to the youngsters. Most of the EEP students are majors in SEM (Science, Engineering, and Mathematics). The program has a high success rate: 100% of its baccalaureates go on to pursue master's and doctoral degrees in the fields of science, medicine, engineering, law, and business at such schools as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Brown, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley.

The program is so highly regarded that applicants from all over the country apply. The EEPsters not only take college courses, but they participate in University clubs and intramural sports as well. There have been many EEPsters who have been accepted into the MORE programs through the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, the Health Careers Opportunity Program, and other SEM programs.

Rich has been the director of the EEP for 17 of the 24 years of the program's existence-the only such program in the country. What is also special about Rich, aside from his undying passion for the EEP program, is that he was a gifted student himself, graduating from Monrovia High School, and an alum of Cal State L.A., having earned his bachelor's and master's degrees here in psychology. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in educational psychology from USC, and his plans are to create and direct a center for accelerated studies here at Cal State L.A.

It is because of Rich that the EEP program even exists. His enthusiasm, loyal dedication, and persistent energy swells the office with his genuine caring for the students. Rich deserves a great deal of recognition from the campus community for the service, support, and encouragement he unselfishly provides to these students, who go on to give Cal State L.A. a gold star in academia.

Student Clubs Did Incredible Work This Year!

The 2005-06 year saw an upward successful trend for the SEM student organizations. Students worked hard at getting clubs and organizations active again and new ones were organized.

• Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine is open to all students interested in allied health fields. Led by Carla Spades (Communication Disorders), the group planned a trip to help needy families in Tijuana, a food and clothing drive for homeless shelters in downtown Los Angeles, visits to USC Keck School of Medicine, and guest speakers from the UCLA Latino Medical Student Association, and collaborated with the Chemistry & Biochemistry Club "Med/PhD Quest Trip" to visit several universities.
• The Pre-Pharmacy Club, led by Taguhi Sogomonyan (Biological Sciences), helped to sponsor blood drives with the American Red Cross, and invited guest speakers to talk to students interested in the pharmaceutical field.
• The Future Dentists Club had workshops on applying to dental school and the dental school admissions test, and visits to prominent dental schools.
• The Horticultural Club promoted Earth Day on campus, held several plant sales, and helped recycle discarded cell phones, as well as coffee grounds from Dolcini's and fruit peelings from Juice It Up to use as compost for the botany classes.
• A new student chapter of the national Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) was created, and we will definitely see more of this group as it develops.
• And, of course, the benevolent Chemistry & Biochemistry Club did its "Scientific and Terrific Science Show" this spring, among their many activities throughout the year in giving chemistry and biochemistry visibility on campus.

If your organization is not listed, please contact the editor to share your club's news.

This publication is brought to you by Benjamin Figueroa, Director, and Evelyn Ortiz Winchester, Program Assistant, Office for the Advancement of Science, Engineering and Math-Education (SEM-Ed) at California State University, Los Angeles. If you have any questions, please contact ewinche@cslanet.calstatela.edu